[Women] tend to collect more pieces of data when they think, put them into more complex patterns, see more options and outcomes. They tend to be contextual, holistic thinkers.
Helen FisherRead
The reason you take antidepressants is to feel calm. And romantic love is not calm -it's elation, it's mood swings, and you're killing all that when you take the drug.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Antidepressants can dull emotions, making it difficult to fully experience the highs and lows of romantic love.
In this quote, Helen Fisher suggests that while antidepressants serve to stabilize emotions and induce calmness, they may also suppress the intense feelings associated with romantic love. She highlights the dual nature of love—filled with ecstatic highs and turbulent mood swings—arguing that the use of medication can inhibit one’s ability to engage deeply with these powerful emotional experiences.
Themes
LoveEmotionsAntidepressantsCalmElation
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a discussion about mental health and love can help illustrate the complexity of emotions.
More from Helen Fisher
All quotes →People live for love. They kill for love. They die for love. They have songs, poems, novels, sculptures, paintings, myths, legends. It's one of the most powerful brain systems on Earth for both great joy and great sorrow.
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Your sweetheart calls you by another's name. His eyes linger too long on your best friend. He talks with excitement about a girl at work. And the fire catches. Jealousy - that sickening combination of possessiveness, suspicion, rage, and humiliation - can overtake your mind and threaten your very core as you contemplate your rival.
Helen FisherRead
Any kind of novelty or excitement drives up dopamine in the brain, and dopamine is associated with romantic love.
Helen FisherRead
Most of us make up our minds in the first three minutes of meeting someone whether there's a potential for a relationship.
Helen FisherRead
People have often asked me whether what I know about love has spoiled it for me. And I just simply say, 'Hardly.' You can know every single ingredient in a piece of chocolate cake, and then when you sit down and eat that cake, you can still feel that joy.
Helen FisherRead
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